crumb

Definition of crumb

11 senses · 3 parts of speech · etymology included

noun

(countable, uncountable)A small piece which breaks off from baked food (such as cake, biscuit or bread).

“The pigeons were happily pecking at crumbs of bread on the ground.”
“desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table”
“At twilight in the summer there is never anybody to fear—man, woman, or cat—in the chambers and at that hour the mice come out. They do not eat parchment or foolscap or red tape, but they eat the luncheon crumbs.”

See all 11 definitions

noun

(countable, uncountable)A small piece which breaks off from baked food (such as cake, biscuit or bread).

“The pigeons were happily pecking at crumbs of bread on the ground.”
“desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table”
“At twilight in the summer there is never anybody to fear—man, woman, or cat—in the chambers and at that hour the mice come out. They do not eat parchment or foolscap or red tape, but they eat the luncheon crumbs.”
(countable, uncountable)A small piece of any other solid substance.

“Then erase any pencil lines with a good, soft eraser, rubbing gently, in only one direction. A dustbrush can be useful in removing any eraser crumbs.”
(countable, figuratively, uncountable)A bit, small amount.

“a crumb of comfort”
(abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable)Ellipsis of crumb rubber.

“Production of rubber granules, or crumb, is well-established in this country.”
(countable, uncountable)The soft internal portion of bread, surrounded by crust.

“Dust unto dust, what must be, must; / If you can't get crumb, you'd best eat crust.”
(countable, uncountable)A mixture of sugar, cocoa and milk, used to make industrial chocolate.
(countable, slang, uncountable)A nobody; a worthless person.

“All Dad can think of is a gift certificate from the Melody Inn? And my crumb of a boyfriend doesn't even show up? This is a birthday?”
(countable, slang, uncountable)A body louse (Pediculus humanus).

verb

(transitive)To cover with crumbs.
(transitive)To break into crumbs or small pieces with the fingers; to crumble.

“to crumb bread”

name

A surname.

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

From Middle English crome, cromme, crumme, crume, from Old English cruma (“crumb, fragment”), from Proto-Germanic *krumô, *krūmô (“fragment, crumb”), from Proto-Indo-European *grū-mo- (“something scraped together, lumber, junk; to claw, scratch”),…

See full etymology

From Middle English crome, cromme, crumme, crume, from Old English cruma (“crumb, fragment”), from Proto-Germanic *krumô, *krūmô (“fragment, crumb”), from Proto-Indo-European *grū-mo- (“something scraped together, lumber, junk; to claw, scratch”), from *ger- (“to turn, bend, twist, wind”). The b is unetymological, as in limb, appearing in the mid-15th century to match crumble and words like dumb, numb, thumb. Cognate with Dutch kruim (“crumb”), Low German Krome, Krume (“crumb”), German Krume (“crumb”), Danish krumme (“crumb”), Swedish dialectal krumma (“crumb”), Swedish inkråm (“crumbs, giblets”), Icelandic krumur (“crumb”), Latin grūmus (“a little heap”).

Words you can make from crumb

12 playable · top: CURB (8 pts)

Best play curb 8 points

3-letter words

9 words

2-letter words

2 words

Hooks

2 extensions · 2 back

A single letter you can add to crumb to make another valid word.